Creating a successful business can be a very difficult process. One of the best ideas for a tech entrepreneur to pursue is an online store. Selling goods to consumers all over the world can be extremely lucrative.

The main thing you need to worry about when trying to have success with an online store is creating an appealing and functional website. The modern consumer is extremely fickle, which is why you need to work on capturing their attention with great web design. Missing the mark when it comes to the functionality of your website can be damaging to your overall reputation.

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A recent study found that nearly 40 percent of the consumers polled claimed they would stop engaging with a website if the images on the page took too long to load. During the holiday season, your online store will probably receive a massive increase in traffic. Properly preparing for this traffic is essential when trying to avoid server crashes and other problems.

The following are some of the things you need to consider when trying to prepare your site for peaks in traffic.

Take Time to Study Your Website Traffic

The key to properly preparing for an upswing in website visitors is getting to know your traffic better. You need to figure out what patterns exist in your traffic and then use these patterns to develop a plan of attack. If you notice that your traffic comes at certain times of the day, you need to make preparations to increase bandwidth during this time period.

It will be nearly impossible for you to prepare for traffic is you can’t narrow down when more power is needed. If you are unsure about how to use this data to develop a web traffic strategy, then working with a web developer is a must. These professionals should have no problem pointing you in the right direction when it comes to how to handle increases in traffic.

Content Delivery Networks Are Beneficial

One of the main problems you will have when trying to handle an increase in traffic is loading all of the content on your website. If thousands of people are trying to load your website at once, it can put a lot of strain on your servers. Finding a way to reduce this strain is something you need to be passionate about.

For years, online entrepreneurs have used the power of content delivery networks to minimize the strain put on their servers in times of peak traffic. A content delivery network stores the most used data on your site and loads it from servers closest to the visitor in question.

While these systems will be a bit costly, they are definitely worth the money considering the results they can provide. Many of the content delivery networks on the market can act as a mitigator should your site be hit with a DDoS attack. This means you will be able to remove this malicious virus without having to completely take your website offline.

Adequately Testing your Website on a Regular Basis

Figuring out what your website can handle in regards to traffic is difficult without routine testing. Allowing QA or software testing professionals to test the website for both performance and capacity is vital. These tests will simulate the load that real-world traffic spikes will cause.

Most online business owners use staging servers during these tests. Doing this allows them to copy the settings on their actual servers to ensure an increase in traffic can be handled. The key to getting accurate information from these tests is by using experienced software tester.

Online business owners with limited experience will usually make a mess of this testing process, which is why working with seasoned professionals is a good idea. These QA testers or software testing service providers can also help you set up a system for keeping error logs from your website organized. Systems developed by companies like Papertrail can help you keep track of error logs and address them in a hurry.

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Caching Dynamic Content Can Be Helpful

If you are having trouble keeping up with increases in web traffic, taking advantage of content caching may be a good idea. By keeping a saved version of your website to load for consumers, you can reduce the load put on your servers and increase the speed of your website. There are also many other forms of caching that can be used to make a website more functional and reliable.

Don’t Wait for Disaster to Strike

The biggest mistake you can make as an online business owner is failing to address instability issues. Waiting until your website crashes due to the inability to handle increased traffic is a horrible idea. With the help of the right professionals, you can find and fix any issues your website may have with ease.